The Night Before
by Aryck-The-One
Summary: After his encounter with Katara on the balcony at the Ember Island theater, Aang can't sleep. In the middle of the night, he decides to pay her a visit, to apologize... and is rewarded in a way he'll never forget. One-shot. Hints of lemons, but nothing terribly explicit. Still warrants an M rating. Read and review.


**Author's Note : A sort of "missing scene" set between The Ember Island Players and the series finale... only, I may have gone a tad overboard with a lemon at the end. Don't worry; it's nothing explicit. If it still somehow bothers you, don't read.**

 **I must remind you that _I'm not the best writer in the world..._ and I haven't posted anything in a while, so I'm more than a little rusty. So, go easy on me. ****Also, I apologize in advance for any spelling and grammar errors. I had to proofread this thing manually.**

* * *

It'd been three hours since Aang and his friends returned from the theater. All had gone to bed the instant they got back to the hideout in what had been the Fire Lord's summer home... though many were having trouble sleeping.

Toph and Sokka had somehow managed to enjoy that horrible play, but for Aang, Katara, and Zuko, it'd been a painful and humiliating experience... but it seemed to be worse for Katara and Aang than anyone else.

An hour past midnight, and Aang was still awake... he lay in bed with his eyes wide open, tired but unable to sleep, reliving the night's events over and over again. Seeing Katara and Zuko- or rather, their actors- together in that way, to hear the actor-Katara voice his worst fear like that, and then to be rejected by the real Katara... it gave him the feeling of having his heart clamped in a vice.

She told him that it wasn't the right time, that they were in the middle of a war, that she was confused... what did that even mean? He kept going over that scene on the balcony over and over in his head, trying to figure it out, wondering if Katara really had any feelings for him... or if she was just too afraid to hurt him to tell him the truth.

When he kissed her, she pulled back, and ran away. She hadn't looked at him nor spoken a word the whole walk back home.

There was nothing for it. Aang's restless mind would not allow him to sleep; he needed to talk to Katara. Now.

Aang slid out of bed and crept down the hall to Katara's room. He paused at the door, taking a moment to think of what he should say; the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse.

Once Aang had collected himself, he took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he slid the door open and crept inside.

Katara was there, lying on the bed in her underwear, the covers pulled up to her waist and her long hair spread over the pillows. Aang couldn't tell if she was actually asleep at first; not until he walked up to the side of the bed and saw her eyes closed tightly, clearly feigning sleep.

"Katara?" He whispered. "Can we talk?"

She ignored him. Aang placed a hand on her shoulder and nudged her gently. "Katara?"

Katara quickly gave up her charade, sighing in exasperation and opening her eyes. "What do you want, Aang?" She asked.

"I just-" Aang, wondering how he should start. "-I just wanna talk... about what happened tonight. At the play."

Katara sat up, pushing the covers off her and sitting beside him on the edge of the bed. Aang blushed; the simple linen wrappings around her hips and chest left little to the imagination. He'd seen her this way before, when they practiced waterbending... but being this close to her, in her bedroom, on a very warm summer night was something else entirely.

"First off," Aang began. "I, uh... I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For kissing you. On the balcony," he said. "...and, I guess on the submarine, too. I shouldn't have pressured you like that."

"I also wanted to let you know... I love you," Aang confessed. "I've loved you since the day we met. Everything I've done since you found me in the iceberg... it wasn't just because I'm the Avatar, it was for you. I just wanted to let you know... even if you don't feel the same way about me."

"No, Aang... it's okay," she consoled, taking his hand in hers and interlacing their fingers; Aang blushed at this unexpected contact.

"I think... maybe I'm the one who should apologize," Katara suggested. Aang raised an eyebrow in confusion. "For... what?"

"For not being honest with you," she answered. "The thing is... I do like you. I was confused before, I wasn't sure if what I was feeling was real... but I know better now."

"So...?" Aang was struggling to understand what she was saying; his heart was hammering in his chest as his brain ran around in circles... Katara said that she liked him, and that she'd been confused before, but something was different now... did she love him, or not?

"So," Katara explained. "I guess I lied to you, back at the play... because I do love you! I'm not confused anymore... the truth is, I'm just... scared."

Upon hearing Katara speak those words, Aang was overjoyed... a feeling that was quickly overridden by confusion. She loved him... but she was scared? Of what?

"I don't understand," said Aang. "What are you scared of?"

Katara didn't answer at first. A few tears leaked from her blue eyes. "Do you remember what you said to me on the submarine?"

 _Oh._

"You said, 'what if I don't come back'. Do you have any idea how that made me feel?" Katara asked.

"You don't have idea what it was like for me, do you?" Katara went on. "After Ba Sing Se. I held your lifeless body in my arms; I thought I'd lost you forever. I stayed by your side for three weeks; I tended to you, I watched over you... and throughout all that time, I wondered if you were ever going to wake up."

Aang didn't know what to say. Katara had never shared these feelings with him before. Aang couldn't help but mentally kick himself; he'd been so absorbed in his own problems after Ba Sing Se, not once had he considered what effect his near-death might've had on his friends... especially Katara.

"I'm sorry, Katara," he apologized. "I didn't think-"

Katara through her arms around him, cutting him off; she buried her face in the crook of his neck, crying softly. Aang put his arms around her, cradling the back of her head with one hand while the other rested on the bare skin of her lower back.

It all made sense now. Why Katara barely talked to him after the invasion, why she ran away at the theater. She was trying to distance herself from him, as though it would somehow lessen the pain of losing him again. Aang knew all too well that his chances of beating the Fire Lord and living to tell about it were slim to none.

"No... don't cry!" Aang insisted, trying to think of something he could say to comfort her.

"I'll come back," he reassured. "I promise you."

"Aang," said Katara. She pulled away, and looked him in the eye. "Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

Aang didn't know how to respond to that. he wished he could say something to console her, but he was drawing a blank. Katara was right; he couldn't keep such a promise. Unbeknownst to him, Katara had her own ideas for how he might comfort her...

For a while, they just sat there, holding each other. After a few minutes of just enjoying one another's embrace, Katara spoke up.

"Aang?"

"Hm?"

Katara tilted his chin up so that his silver-grey eyes were aligned perfectly with her deep-blue ones.

"Lay with me," she whispered.

At these words, Aang's face turned redder than a tomato-carrot. He wasn't as naive as he looked; Aang knew exactly what Katara was asking him for.

"Aang, please," she pleaded, taking his hands in hers. Aang hesitated for a moment; a boy his age couldn't help but daydream about making love to a kind, beautiful girl like Katara, but dreaming about it and actually doing it were two different things.

It wasn't that he was too young; in fact, at the age of 13, Aang would be considered a man in many parts of the world. More so than that, he'd been entrusted with the responsibilities of an adult, as had Katara and the rest of their little surrogate family. They were expected to go to war, to fight and possibly die for the greater good... so why should they be denied this? To be with her, before they returned to the war?

Only, Aang was nervous. How could he not be? He'd never done anything like this before in his life, and now the girl of his dreams was suddenly asking him to sleep with her out of the blue.

"Aang?" Katara asked again. "Don't you want to...?"

"No. I mean, yes!" He stammered out. "I just, uh..."

"You don't know how?" Katara asked. Aang shook his head. "No, I know how, it's just... I've never..."

"It's okay," Katara reassured. "I've never done it either. But I want this... just for us to be together, this one night. Please?"

Aang couldn't deny her, even as terrified as he was at the prospect. At last, he nodded... and with that Katara smiled, cupped his face in her hands, and pressed her lips to his.

Aang, initially caught off-guard, soon began to kiss her back, slipping his tongue between her lips. Katara moaned in pleasure as he kissed her with all the love and passion he could muster.

Eventually, Katara pulled away, and began to undress right in front of him. Trying not feel embarrassed, Aang copied her; he wore only a pair of burgundy shorts, and his underwear under that. It didn't take long for him to rid himself of both.

Finally, they were both naked. Aang took a moment to take in the sight of Katara's nude form, his eyes roaming over her bare breasts, crowned with dark nipples, past her navel to the dark nest of curls above her most sacred place, and down her long, shapely legs. Aang was sure he'd never seen anything more beautiful in the world.

He blushed when he realized that Katara was admiring him in the same way; her eyes were fixed on a particular part of him between his legs, which had grown much more... noticeable upon baring himself to her.

Guided by instinct, Aang crawled closer to his lover, moving to position himself on top of her. Katara lay back, resting her head on the pillow and spreading her legs for him.

"Are you sure?" He whispered tentatively. Katara smiled up at him, and nodded. "I'm all yours."

That was it. All of Aang's inhibitions vanished on the spot. Keeping his eyes locked with Katara's, he pushed forward... and they became one.

It was a night they would never forget.

* * *

When morning came, Aang's bedroom was still empty. Everyone else was still asleep.

In Katara's bedroom, Aang was just waking up. Sunlight was pouring into the room through the open door to the porch. Both Aang and his lover were still naked, with Katara laying on top of him, her head resting over his heart, and the blankets pulled up to just below her shoulders.

Last night had been incredible. Aang couldn't remember how many times they'd made love before finally collapsing, happily exhausted, into each other's arms. Aang could feel that the bed sheets were slightly damp from their sweat, but with the porch door open, the musky odor of their sex was replaced by the smell of the beach and the ocean in the early morning.

Aang inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with fresh air; the rising and falling of his chest roused Katara from her sleep. She lifted her head, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes, and smiled groggily at him.

"Good morning," he said. Katara answered this by pecking him on the lips.

"Indeed," she said. Katara flipped over and laid her head on his shoulder so that she was facing the rising sun.

"How do you feel?" Aang asked her.

"A little sore," Katara replied. "How many times did we...?"

"I lost count at three," Aang answered. Katara gave a small giggle, and snuggled closer to him; Aang pulled the blankets up higher to cover them better, lest someone walk in on them.

"We'll probably have to get dressed soon," Katara suggested. "Before the others wake up."

"Do we have to?" Aang complained childishly. Katara sniggered.

"Do you want Sokka to walk in and find us like this?" Katara asked. Aang shook his head. "No... but no one else is up, yet. And I like holding you..."

"I suppose we could stay like this for another hour," said Katara. The sun was only just cresting over the horizon; and she knew her brother like to sleep in when he could.

"We could do this again," Katara hinted. "That is, if you wanted to..."

"Again?" Aang repeated. "You mean like... tonight?"

"Well, yeah," Katara affirmed. "But I was actually thinking more like... right now?" Aang blushed.

"Right now?"

Katara nodded. "You said it yourself," she asserted. "The others won't be up for a while."

Aang couldn't argue with that. He pulled Katara up to kiss her again; she withdrew quickly, and straddled his waist.

"Oh, and Aang?" She said, leaning forward.

"Hm?"

"I love you," she said.

Aang smiled back at her. "I love you, too."

* * *

 ** Author's Note: Well, there it is... for what it's worth. I didn't want to go into detail with the lemon at the end, lest I get in trouble... also, like I said, I'm a novice writer at best. Leave a review, if you like; I really wouldn't mind a little critique.**


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